810 Lincoln Avenue, Alameda
I haven’t seen a new Rosas Brothers mark since 2015 — in fact, I haven’t seen anything more recent than 2016 in Oakland — so this was a welcome sight indeed.
2018 – Rosas Brothers
4 November 20192007 – Golden Bay Construction
2 November 2019
1986 – Pioneer Const.
31 October 2019
400 block Marshall Way, Alameda
I took a hike through Alameda and spotted dozens of tempting sidewalk stamps, many of which I have not seen in Oakland. I ignored those. But some, like examples I’ve posted from Berkeley, add new dates to the record of Oakland sidewalk makers, so here’s one that adds to the single dated example I documented in Oakland.
1940 – Chas. Somers & Sons
30 October 2019
28th Street behind the Humanist Hall
Now this is interesting. In 1940 Chas Somers and Sons changed their stamp. From the 1930s to early 1940, the stamp included the firm’s phone number “NIGATE- 7470” at the bottom: see it in 1938, 1939 and January 1940. And here, as of March 1940 (I think), is the earliest instance of the stamp they used for the rest of the documented record, with the notation “PI. 4041J” at the bottom, as seen here beautifully in 1946.
1952 – Lee J. Immel
13 October 2019
702 Solano Avenue, Albany
I have only a single Lee J. Immel mark from Oakland, which I think is older than this one.
EBMUD and EBWCo
12 September 2019
This access cover, next to the Paramount Theater on 21st Street, combines hardware from East Bay MUD and its primary predecessor, the East Bay Water Company. The two leaves look to be the same vintage and installed at the same time. It’s my theory that when EBMUD took the reins of the East Bay’s water system in the 1920s, they inherited a bunch of plumbing stock with the EBWCo logo and just deployed it until they ran out. It helped that local foundries could quickly adapt their existing forms to the new client.
1928 – Lovisone & Co.
26 May 2019
Peralta Street at 16th Street
Lovisone & Co. used two different stamps in 1928. This was the first one, with straight text. Later in 1928 they switched to a stamp with arched letters, and used it in 1929 as well. From 1930 to 1939, the last year I’ve documented, they used an arched-text stamp saying “Lovisone” without the “& Co.”
The only reason I know this is from 1928 and not 1925 is that a 1928 mark appears on the other side of this driveway.
